Okay, just a warning, this one shot is gonna be a little darker than the rest, not too much, but I thought I'd put a warning out just incase. I wasn't gonna write it because I wasn't too sure, but I messaged my friend Abby about it and she seemed interested, so this is dedicated to her I guess, love you xox
19: This can't be the end
Part one
"I hate that Peter keeps worrying." Edmund muttered as he walked, staring down at a note his brother had sent him. "We're only gonna be a few days late."
"A few days is a long time Edmund." Philip responded. "Especially in your brothers eyes."
"I explained why we'd be late." Edmund said with a sigh, slipping the note back into his bag. "Shouldn't he be happy that I managed to secure some sort of peace?"
Philip bit back the amused tone when he next spoke. "I'm sure he is." He said. "But he's also you're brother, he has a right to be worried."
Edmund sighed again but nodded his head. "I understand that." He said slowly. "But we're only a few days from home, his worry will disappear then, which will be a relief because I hate to see him worried, especially when he's so worried he makes himself sick."
"That's happened?" Philip questioned.
Edmund nodded, glancing up at the sky when he felt a raindrop land on his head. "Yeah it's happened." He mumbled, ignoring the rain, it was actually quite refreshing if he was honest. "Once when I was younger I got sick, Peter refused to leave my side. He didn't sleep, he hardly ate, and baring in mind he was only twelve. He made himself sick, much to the annoyance of our parents, who'd told him multiple times that he didn't have to sit with me, but of course, Peter being Peter, he refused."
"You should be grateful to have an older brother such as Peter." Philip said.
"I never said I wasn't." Edmund replied. "I'm truly grateful for Peter, love him to bits, it's when he worries that much that I can't help but feel annoyed."
"I reckon you'd do the same if he was sick though." Philip told him, this time unable to keep back a hint of amusement.
Even Edmund couldn't help but smile a little. "I suppose you're right." He breathed, and it was only then that he realised just how much it was raining. "We should find shelter." He said, glancing around the surrounding woods. "But where is the question."
He was so busy looking for somewhere to shelter, that he didn't even notice the tree root.
Philip did try and warn him, but it was too late when Edmund found himself face down in a patch of mud.
He sat up quickly, rubbing at his eyes and spitting it from his mouth, able to well picture the amused glint in Philip's eyes.
His face covered in mud, which made him hardly recognisable, he glared up at his horse. "I know." He muttered. "Hilarious."
"I tried to warn you." Philip said simply.
Edmund nodded slowly before sighing and slowly standing, noticing only then that the rain was beginning to stop. "It could've carried on." He muttered. "It would've washed all this mud off... you know if theres a stream or something around here?"
"No idea." Philip answered. "I'm not familiar with any of the woods outside of Narnia."
Edmund nodded. "I really cannot wait to be back in Narnia." He breathed, just as the rain stopped. "If we keep walking we'll reach Narnia by this evening, and then it's only a two maybe two and a half day walk to Cair. Hopefully we won't get home to find Peter's passed out from the worry." He was trying to wipe the mud off his face as he spoke, but realised after a while he was just smudging it. "I really need to find a stream or something."
Philip let out something that resembled a laugh. "Yeah, you really do." He teased.
Edmund glared playfully at him and went to say something witty in reply when a shout from ahead caught his attention.
"That's him!"
Edmund's looked ahead, a frown spread across his face at the group of men ahead, but the frown disappeared and was replaced with a look of shock when an arrow flew through the air and hit Philip on his leg, causing the horse to let out a loud noise of pain before all but collapsing to the ground. "Philip!" Edmund cried, and wasted no time in kneeling beside his friend.
"Edmund look out!" Philip said, hardly loud enough for even Edmund to hear.
But he understood completely what he'd said two seconds later when he swung around and felt something collide with the back of his head.
He saw stars for a moment or two, before his eyes began to slip closed.
He tried to stay conscious, he truly did, but the next thing he knew, he'd hit the ground with a loud thud and everything went black.
Edmund had no idea how long he'd been asleep for, his head hurt too much to even try and think about it anyway.
He woke to a dark room, a cell to be precise, with bars serving as the door so he could clearly see what was on the other side, but it wasn't anything but another room.
He blinked a few times, trying to bring his vision back into focus before attempting to move, but it was only then that he noticed he was sat against some sort of pole, his hands tied extremely tightly behind him. The pain in his wrists hit him suddenly and he couldn't help but wince, and from the pain in his shoulders he could easily tell he'd been tied up for at least a few hours, if not more. He also noticed that he was gagged, the cloth digging into the corners of his mouth and leaving him unable to say anything, well he probably could, but no one would be able to understand him if he tried anyway.
Edmund took a deep breath, trying to free himself, but if anything the ropes got tighter, and he could feel blood dripping onto his fingers, causing him to shudder.
After a few minutes he realised that there was no hope of escape, and collapsed back against the pole, ignoring the way it was pressed right against his spine.
He should've seen this coming, he hadn't gotten himself into any trouble like this for nearly a year, and that was rather uncommon for him, so he couldn't say he was entirely shocked, but he was curious. Curious... and rather scared if he was honest. It didn't matter that he was seventeen, he still got scared, but only when he had a right to be, and this time it would seem, he definitely had a right.
He glanced slowly around the cell, seeing that it wasn't very big, made of hard, grey stone, bars served as the door and the room outside was pretty much the same as the cell, only with a door at one end, slightly open but not enough for Edmund to see what was on the other side.
Sighing a little, Edmund tried to calm his pounding heart, but he couldn't say it was working, so in the end he just gave up.
His head snapped up when the door burst open, two men walking in.
One looked liked a guard of some sort, if his armour was anything to go by, but the other looked like someone of importance, and the look on his face caused Edmund to shudder a little, although he managed to hide it.
The guard walked over and unlocked the cell door, stepping inside and walking over to stand beside Edmund, but he didn't do anything.
The other man stayed standing on the other side of the bars, his hand on the sword that hung from his belt, a slight smirk now growing on his face. "You really thought you could escape?" He laughed.
Edmund frowned a little, trying to keep his breathing as steady as he could. What was that supposed to mean?
"We did warn you that even if you escaped we'd still find you again, and here we are."
Edmund was extremely confused at this point, and it didn't help that his head was still pounding whilst he was trying to figure out what an earth was going on.
"Escaping isn't that easy you know." The man continued. "You will die, you deserve it after everything you've done."
Edmund's heart skipped a beat. What did he just say?! Why was he going to die? What had he done?... Did these people have any idea who he was?
And it was then that it clicked... They'd mistaken him for someone else, the mud that covered his face was probably why, he wasn't very recognisable as the King of Narnia.
He quickly shook his head and tried to explain, but the gag prevented him from doing so, and be inwardly screamed at it being so tight.
"Don't even bother begging for mercy." The man muttered. "You will pay for what you did, I swore to my wife before she died that I would avenge her, and now I have you, that promise can easily be kept."
Edmund swallowed hard. So the guy they really wanted had killed this mans wife? He tried to once again explain, but the second the smallest sound left his mouth, he was punched hard by the guard, who'd come to stand in front of him.
Edmund choked on the gag as he let out a cry of pain, his eyes squeezing shut and his cheek now throbbing. The punch had hit him right on the bone, and he didn't need to be told that he was gonna have a fairly large bruise there in a few hours.
"You will be guarded for the remainder of your life." The man said casually. "You die tomorrow at midday, so I'd make the most of the time you've got left."
Edmund's heart pounded in his chest as the man turned and walked away, slamming the door behind him and leaving Edmund with the guard, who stepped outside the bars but didn't leave, standing right in front of the door, the keys held tightly in his hands.
Edmund tried to say something, but the guard only had to warn him with a glare, and he fell silent again.
What was he supposed to do now?
He fought to keep back his tears as he sat there, pulling against the ropes, but once again they only seemed to get tighter.
Perhaps he would be rescued?
Edmund sighed, no one was expecting him back home for a few days yet, not if it was still the same day he'd been kidnapped, so why an earth would they come looking for him.
Philip! Edmund felt a sense of hope when he remembered his horse, but the hope soon died out when he remembered that he'd been shot and most probably- No, he wouldn't think about it, unless proved, it didn't happen, unless proved, Philip was fine.
There was obviously no chance of escape, no chance of cleaning off his face so they could see who he really was, and no chance of explaining to them that they had the wrong person, and Edmund knew that the only chance of survival was now rescue.
But he put his trust in Aslan, and that was enough for him.
That night was a bit of a blur for Edmund, he kept falling asleep and waking up a minute later, the pain in his shoulders and wrists getting worse, his cheek was throbbing from the punch, and he didn't exactly get to go the night without earning an identical bruise on the other side, plus a few punches to the stomach were dealt.
He tried so many times to explain, and he did managed to get the whole sentence of "I'm not who you're looking for, I'm king Edmund" out of his mouth, but the gag prevented the guard from even beginning to understand him, the gag was just tightened and another punch dealt.
Even though it was the longest night of his life, it still went way too quickly for his liking, and before he knew it, he was told it was morning, and he only had four hours until he was killed.
This caused him more fear than he'd known in a long time, and he struggled against the ropes, one tear making it's way down his cheek as he tried once again to explain, but it only earned him another punch, so hard his vision went completely black for a moment or two before coming back into focus again.
He sat there, slumped forward for the next hour, actually counting down the seconds in his head until he couldn't concentrate anymore.
Where are you Peter? Please...
If anyone was gonna save him, it would probably be his brother, but Edmund knew the changes of him being rescued were low, he only hoped these people would recognise him before they killed him, but he knew those chances were low too, his face was still covered in dried mud and smudged with dirt, and he still couldn't speak.
Time seemed to fly by as he sat there, and before he knew it, the man from last night entered the room, another guard following quickly behind.
"Bring him."
The two guards unlocked the cell door and set about untieing Edmund, who enjoyed the few seconds of freedom before his hands were tied behind him again and he was yanked to his feet.
He swayed slightly at the sudden dizzy spell, but got over it soon enough and began pulling against the guards grip, but it didn't do much, they weren't letting him go anytime soon.
The man walked from the room, and Edmund was forced to follow.
He was led through corridor after corridor before they eventually stepped outside, Edmund blinking in the sun and taking a deep breath at the sudden heat, it had been rather cold down in that cell, and if it wasn't for the current circumstances Edmund probably would've found the heat extremely enjoyable.
He was pushed forward, and kept his head down, still trying to struggle and explain but knowing it wouldn't get him anywhere.
He was trembling hard as he was forced up onto a wooden platform, but he still kept his head down and eyes closed when he was pulled to a stop.
The two guards didn't let him go, but he once again tried pulling away, letting out a sob behind the gag, but if anything the two guards only shared a smirk and laughed.
" 'lease." Edmund choked out.
"I told you there's no point in begging for mercy."
Edmund didn't dare look up as the voice reached his ears, he just stood there, trembling so hard he felt extremely sick.
"You will pay for your crimes." The man spat, and Edmund could tell he wasn't the only one there. "That's how it works around here, you killed my wife, and for that you will die."
" 'ut I-" He was stopped by a punch to the stomach which caused him to double over and let out a pain filled groan, two tears escaping and rolling down his cheeks.
"Save your breath." Was spat at him. "Let's get this done shall we."
Edmund swallowed hard and was pulled so he once again stood up straight, his heart pounding so hard it was making him feel faint.
He was aware of nothing for the next few seconds, until a length of rope was secured around his neck.
bit old fashioned
Edmund nearly rolled his eyes at the voice in his head, but he was way too scared now, trying his hardest to free his hands, but it was no use.
Aslan, please.
He only hoped that, wherever he was, the lion would hear him... surely this couldn't be the end? This can't be the end, he didn't want to die like this, especially when he hadn't even said goodbye to his family, surely Aslan wouldn't let this happen. Right?
He stood there for a few seconds, trembling so hard he knew everyone could see, but he just couldn't stop, and he didn't even try.
He kept his head down as he waited, the waiting making all of this a lot worse, especially seeming as he could feel the rope around his neck.
He kept his eyes glued to the trap door beneath his feet, knowing what it was going to do, but not knowing when.
He heard a small commotion followed by a chuckle, before the floor gave way beneath him, and he fell.
Yeeeaah, told you it was dark... and this will be a two part and imma leave it there... I fear I may of just killed off Edmund... Next part up soon xx
